The processors inside the 230 are: Aphex's professional-level RPA Tube mic pre-amp, a Spectral Phase Refractor psychoacoustic enhancer, the EasyRider™ compressor, the Logic Assisted Noise Gate™, a single knob De-Esser to control sibilance, Aphex's famed Big Bottom® low frequency enhancer, a fully-parametric single frequency equalizer, and Aphex's classic Aural Exciter® to increase clarity, presence and loudness. In addition to the professional analog XLR output connector, there are also S/PDIF RCA and TOSLINK output spigots, BNC Word Clock In/Out jacks and internal/external clock switching.

I've been using the 230 here at my Tones 4 $ Studios for certain vocals that require major surgery--they just don't sound like anything until I hook the studio's mic to this unit. Using all those processors might, on first glance, seem too tweaky for most but I found, since each processor section can be bypassed, I could "build" the sound by switching in each processor as needed. Not all vocalists need all of them but just as an artist "hones" their performance on mic, I would be doing the same "dialing in" the best possible sound for them back on the 230. For each singer or voice-over talent I work with, I quickly learned what works and what doesn't.

If you can afford only one chain, the Aphex 230 is a great choice as you get every processor you'll ever need to record voiceovers, singing vocals or anything else! There is a lot of power packed into this box.